Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Pyramid’ Gets Buried Upon Arrival

Honestly, we could have just copied and pasted last weekend’s box office report and gotten away with it. Outside of the shifting numbers, the order of the top 10 is almost identical to what it was a week ago. This is Hollywood in a holding pattern. The weekend after Thanksgiving is a wasteland. That’s probably why ‘The Pyramid’ was dumped this weekend. However, the lone newcomer in the top 10 didn’t just bomb, it bombed spectacularly.

Film

Weekend

Per Screen

1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

$21,600,000 (-62.1)

$5,328

$257,700,000

2

Penguins of Madagascar

$11,100,000 (-56.4)

$2,940

$49,591,000

3

Horrible Bosses 2

$8,600,000 (-44.4)

$2,529

$36,075,000

4

Big Hero 6

$8,130,000 (-56.8)

$2,566

$177,548,000

5

Interstellar

$8,000,000 (-49.2)

$2,642

$158,657,000

6

Dumb and Dumber to

$4,169,000 (-50.1)

$1,350

$78,081,000

7

The Theory of Everything

$2,668,000 (-46.8)

$3,230

$13,613,000

8

Gone Girl

$1,500,000 (-39.2)

$1,245

$162,861,000

9

The Pyramid

$1,350,000

$2,292

$1,350,000

10

Birdman

$1,150,000 (-38.6)

$1,558

$18,919,000

Studios have managed to sell terrible found footage horror movies before, but 20th Century Fox decided to essentially dump ‘The Pyramid’ in a place where it would prove the least embarrassing. And while ‘The Pyramid’ is one of the worst films of the year, not very many people saw it. With an opening weekend of just over $1 million, this Egyptian-themed horror film should vanish from the face of the planet next week (before becoming one of the movies you always skip past at your local Redbox).

Beyond that disaster, this weekend was really a victory lap for all of the major November releases as they prepare to make way for December’s new crop of films.

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1’ held onto the top spot for the third week in a row, grossing $21 million for a $257 million total. At this rate, $300 million is an inevitability, but the film is moving awfully slow for a franchise that has hit $400 million with its previous two entries. Will it hang on long enough to reach that mark? Can it even top ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ at this point? Those are the questions to ponder in the weeks ahead.

In second place, ‘The Penguins of Madagascar’ grossed a mediocre $11 million for a current total of $49 million. If that two-week total was the film’s opening weekend, DreamWorks Animation would have been pleased. But this is slow for a family-friendly animated movie, especially one from a franchise that normally performs much better. ‘Big Hero 6’ cut this thing off at the knees.

In third place, ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ continued to underperform, grossing $8 million for a $36 million total. At this rate, it should end its run with a gross that isn’t embarrassing, but it won’t even come close to matching the business of the first film.

Fourth and fifth place belonged to the ever-dueling ‘Big Hero 6’ and ‘Interstellar,’ which have been attached at the hip ever since they first opened a month ago. Both films grossed another $8 million over the weekend, bringing the former to $177 million and the latter to $158 million. ‘Big Hero 6’ should cross $200 million in the weeks ahead, but ‘Interstellar’ has a bit of a struggle ahead of it (although its international grosses will keep it afloat).

And now for the final stretch...

‘Dumb and Dumber To’ added $4 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $78 million, which isn’t bad for a decade or two too late throwback. ‘The Theory of Everything’ an ‘Birdman’ kept on making the most of the their limited releases, passing $13 million and $18 million, respectively. And then there’s ‘Gone Girl,’ which is about to bow out of the top 10 with $162 million, solidifying it as one of the year’s biggest successes.